latha 1.4 is not final yet so it may still change, however I have heard that assert was going to be added to the language so that'll probably stay in. That being said, the test is not going to change too quickly - they are still testing on version 1.2 (I think). It would take a some time before decide to chane the test - in their own words yo need to have yused Java for at least 6 months before taking the test so you've probably got at least that long after the final release before any changes are made. for more on asserts check out the specification proposal for it. hope that helps